Badminton will continue to be played under the 3x21 scoring system

05/20/2018

Badminton World Federation has turned down the idea of playing 5 sets of 11 points each and has decided to continue with its old system of 3 sets of 21 points each. The world no. 1 Viktor Axelsen insisted that new system would disrupt the game and would make it less interesting for the spectators.

Badminton’s global governing body has decided to swat down a plan on Saturday to adopt a new scoring system that favoUred less time-consuming matches after associations expressed their refusal for the proposed changes.

In a bid to attract more spectators, the Badminton World Federation was considering making changes to the existing rules to make sets shorter. The proposal involved players competing against each other in the best of five 11-point sets instead of the current set up of three 21-point sets. However, the proposal failed to pass due to not getting 2/3rd majority of the votes and the announcement of the failure was made by BWF on the organization’s facebook page.

"Badminton will continue to be played under the 3x21 scoring system," the post said. “The BWF Council’s proposal to change to 5x11 has not received the required two-thirds majority, with 129 votes for changing the scoring format while 123 votes went against the motion.”

The decision was followed by opposition from some of the notable top shuttlers including world number 1 Viktor Axelsen. Axelsen said the new rules could disrupt the physically grueling aspect of competition and make it less interesting to watch.

"I'm afraid we won't see that as much if we play to 11 points even though it's five sets," he said. "Also I know that some of the matches might be sort of boring to watch if there is too big of a difference in the level of players."

"I think that 21 points it's fine, I don't think it's a problem," the men's world champion added. "So I'd rather continue with how things are."

In addition to scoring, the federation has also been looking to find answers to questions posed by match-fixing, after two Malaysian players were accused of it and handed career-ending bans and fines by the BWF last month. The post did not provide details on any other decisions.

The battle for the men's Thomas Cup and the women's Uber Cup begins Sunday morning in the Thai capital.